My favorite works by Edward Elgar are his Violin concerto, and the “Enigma Variations”. Today you have the opportunity to listen to the later.
The Enigma variations dates from 1899. Elgar himself described its genesis as follows:
“One evening after a long and tiresome day’s teaching, aided by a cigar, I musingly played on the piano the theme as it now stands. [Lady Elgar] asked with a sound of approval, ‘What was that?’ I answered ‘Nothing—but something might be made of it; Powell would have done this (Var. 2) or Nevinson would have looked at it like this (Var. 12),’ Variation 4 was then played and the question asked, ‘Who is that like?’
The “enigma” refers to the fact that Elgar once stated that the theme was actually part of a larger theme that he would keep secret. It has remained so to this day, despite many speculations and arguments.
Each variation is a brief musical portrait of a close friend of the Elgars or of the Elgars themselves. Their identities were not divulged until after the composer’s death. They are as follows:
Enigma: the plaintive theme (or part thereof).
I. C.A.E.: a lyric and eloquent portrait of Lady Elgar
II. H.D.S.P.: Hew David Steuart-Powell, an amateur pianist and chamber music performer who had the habit of practicing rapid arpeggios on the keyboard before beginning to play.
III. R.B.T.: Richard Baxter Townshend, an amateur actor who, for comic affect, could instantly switch his voice from falsetto to low bass and back.
IV. W.M.B.: William M. Baker, a country squire who liked to bluster and slam doors whenever he left a room.
There are more…
Here is the wonderful music:
